Belt and the like



K. MATHEUS.

. BELT AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION HLED AUG.29, 1921.

999 Patented July 18, 1922,

Rgl 52 x 6 52 I V y 26 6/ 29 15 23 az z KARL MATI-IEUS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BELT AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 29, 1921. Serial No. 496,295.

T 0 all w 7mm it may concern:

.Be it known that I, K R MATHEUS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new' and use ful Improvements in Belts and the like, of which the following'is a specification.

This invention hasto do with improvements in belts. It has reference particularly to certain improvements in extension devices which may be used in conjunction with belts and the like so as to permit them to. stretch and contract under spring pressure.

One of the objectsofthe invention is to provide an. improved contractile device which is very well adapted to this class of service. this connection one ,of the objects is to provide a contractile device of such form that it may be very easily and cheaply manufactured and from a very small number of parts so that it will not readily get out of order. Another object of this invention is toprovide a contractile device of such construction as to make provision for a relatively large amount of expansion and contraction so as toincrease the capacity of the deviceinv this connection.

Another feature of the invention relates to the manner in which the contractile device is related to the end portions of the belt itself. In this connection the object is to make provision for very readily hooking together the end portions of the-belt itself,

while at the same timeeifectively protecting the-inside faces of the contractiledevice so that the articles of clothing and the like will not readily become. wedged or. in the contractile device itself. c

Other objects and uses of the invention will appear from a detailed description of j ammed construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing: i Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the end portions of a belt,- havingapplied thereto a-contractile device embodyingthe feature's-of the present invention of. the contractile device itself with the two pins 21 and 22 respectively. the same, which consists in the features of sections thereofdrawn together under spring I pressure;

. F g-. 3 shows a view similar to that of F ig. 2 .w1th the exception that the two sections have been drawn apart to the limit of per- Patented July 18, 1922..

Fig. 5 shows a back face view of that end portion of the belt which carries the contractile device.

I will first describe the construction of'the contractile device itself. It includes a pair of companion platesG and 7 in conjunction with an intermediate slide; plate 8 and springs 9 and 10. The plates 6 and 7 are provided with guide blocks 11 and 12 which receive the'ends of the slide plate 8 and serve to maintain the end plates 6 and 7, as

.well as the slide 8. in alignment with each other. The guide blocks 11 and 12 may be of any suitable construction but are conveniently made in the form of separate sheet metal plates riveted to the plates 6 and 7.

The slide plate 8 carries the 'pins 18 and i I 1 1 at its ends, which pins are adapted to engage recesses 15 and 16 in the guide plates 11 and 12 at the extreme limit of movement of the parts. The springs 9 and 10 may he ofnany convenient construction, but the form illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 is very satisfactory. The springs illustrated are of spiral wire and have their inner ends 17 and 18 am ,chored on pins secured to the end plates 6 and :7 The free ends of'these spiral springs are hooked onto the links 19 and 20, the

other ends of said links being pivoted to the .central portion of the slide plate 8 by the It will be observed from the drawing that the pivotal pins 21 andv 22 are offset from each: other instead of being located in a direct longitudinal line. There is consequently set up a turning effort on the slide plate '8,

but the guide blocks 11 and 12 efi'ectively resist this turning effort and keep all of the I, parts properly lined up.

Fig. 2 shows a face view of the mechanism Itwill also be observed that the tension on both of the springs isthe same and that the springs are placed in tandem with each other, so that the total amount of permissible extension is equal to the sum of the individual extensions. In this way a very even and satisfactory operation is secured while at the same time the contractile or expansible capacity of the device is double in amount.

The contractile device is intended to be set into a portion of the belt structure where it will be subjected to the tension of the belt and where it may extend and contract, allowing the end portions of the belt the proper amount of relative movement. For this I have illustrated the following arrangement: One end 28 of the belt is directly connected to the end plate 6. A supplemental belt section 24 is connected to the end plate 7. The extension and contraction takes place between the belt sections 23 and 2 L. The other end of the belt proper is shown at 25, and is provided with a series of perforations 26 located at convenient distances apart, and the supplemental belt section 24 carries a hook 27 which may be set into a selected one of the perforations 26 so as to adjust the size of the belt to the needs of the wearer.

The end section 25 is carried past the inside faces of the supplemental section 24: and of the contractile device, so as to overlap the contractile device in the manner indicated particularly in Figs. 1 and 4. This overlapping serves to protect the garments of the wearer from possible entanglement with the contractile device. In order to hold the belt end portion 25 in proper position, I have shown a wire loop 28 as con nected to one of the sections of the contractile device, the belt end 25 being passed therethrough. i

I have also shown the end plates 6 and '7 as being stamped out into such form as to oifsettheir extreme end portions 29 and 30 an amount substantially equal to the thicknessof'the belt material. This will bring the contractile device into direct alignment with the belt material, as clearly shown in Fig. it. The end portions 29 and 30 may also be provided with the prongs 81 which are'connected to the belt sections by being passed through the material thereof. A facing of thin leather or other suitable ma terial may be placed over the back surfaces of the portions of the contractile device so as to'finish the same and provide a neater construction. In like manner suitable caps or housings 33 and 2% may be secured over the front portions of the contractile members so as to inclose the same and give the device a neat and finished appearance. One of the members or may be provided with a tongue 35 adapted to reach over into the other in telescoping fashion so as to protect the contractile mechanism at all times,

and a design 36 on the front face of the box members 33 and 34 may in such case be continued over the tongue 35, as shown in Fig. 1, to gii e a continuous finished appearance to the device.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a contractile device for belts and the like, com prising in combination a pair of end plates each having its end portion offset substantially the thickness of belt material, belt sections set into said offset portions, means for securing each offset portion to the corresponding belt section, guide blocks on the end plates having longitudinally extending guide passages, a slide plate having its end portions working within said guide blocks, pins on said slide plate, limiting its movement in the extension direction, a coil spring on each end plate having one end connected to such end plate, links joining the free ends of said springs with the central portion of the slide plate, and suitable housings secured to both end plates and covering over and protecting the springs, links and slide plate, substantially as described.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a contractile device for belts and the like, eomprising in combination a pair of end plates, belt sections secured thereto, guide blocks on the end plates having longitudinally extending guide passages, a slide plate having its end portions working within said guide blocks, pins on said slide plate limiting its movementin the extension direction, a coil spring on each end plate having one end connected to such end plate, links joining the free ends of said springs with the central portion of the slide plate, and suitable housings secured to both end plates and covering over and protecting the springs, links and slide plate, substantially as described.

As a new article of manufacture, a contractile device for belts and the like, comprising in combination a pair of end plates, belt sections secured thereto, guide blocks on the end plates having longitudinally extending guide passages, a slide plate having its end portions working within said guide blocks, pins on said slide plate limiting its movement in the extension direction, a coil spring on each end plate having one end connected to such end plate, and links joining the free ends of said springs with the central portion of the slide plate, substantially as described.

l. As a new article of manufacture, a contractile device for belts and the like, comprising in combination a pair of end plates, belt sections secured thereto, guide blocks on the end plates havinglongitudinally extending guide passages, a slide plate having its end port-ions working within said. guide blocks, a coil spring on each end plate havon the end plates having longitudinally eX- tending guide passages, a slide plate having 10 its end portions Working Within said guide blocks, and a spring between each end plate and the central portion of the slide plate, substantially as described.

KARL MATHEUS. 

